I can confirm the same kind of experience with Microsoft stores with the one just outside Chicago. When I first saw it I wondered why they would even open such a store when Microsoftt products don't really lend themselves to a branded store. I speculated that they just saw how well the Apple store did and decided to copy just like they copy a lot of things competitors do (for better or worse, I'm not saying its bad/good, right/wrong). Then another more plausible thought came to mind. This could be a way to get people to believe there's no difference between Apple and Microsoft. In fact I have this creeping feeling they actually want to confuse people into thinking its the same store. In my case there was an Apple store on the opposite end of the same mall. Think about it. Both stores are eerily similar on first glance. They both have just a big logo outside with an open floor plan and a bunch of products on tables. My own mother who loves Apple products, owns a few, but is still not a tech savvy person asked me "Is that the new Apple store?". It reminded me of the way Samsung designed and packaged some of their phones and tablets in such a way that "moms who always buy the wrong thing for Christmas" are tricked into thinking a tablet is an iPad because it looks like an iPad. In this case it almost seems like the idea is to get people to buy a laptop/phome/whatever from the Microsoft store because it looks like the Apple store and therefor if it looks the same it must be the same.

But the problem with a dedicated Microsoft store is that You can buy a Microsoft product anywhere. There's no difference in terms of products between a Microsoft store and a Best Buy, Wal Mart, Target, any cell phome carrier's store, and electronics shops in general. The products in a MS store is just a subset of what you can get anywhere else. Now contrast this with the experience of buying an Apple product. There's a consistent experience and consistent branding across the board. There's the Apple store which is the ultimate controlled experience and even when you buy an Apple product elsewhere there's still consistency. For example, if you buy an Apple product from Best Buy there's a dedicated Apple area that is specially set up and designed like a mini Apple store even if it's a single table with an iMac and a MacBook. The table is the same table as the one at the Apple store and so are the tags (iPads with prices and specs) and there's even a little wall that looks like a chunk of Apple Store.

There's always consistent branding with Apple too. Even if you buy an iMac out the back of some guys truck! That's because all their products have a distinct look and the little apple logo. You can't buy an HP Mac or a Lenovo MacBook Air. If it's an Apple then it's an Apple from top to bottom and there's no other logos or branding anywhere.

This is why a Microsoft Store not only doesn't make sense but makes it look like an attempt to copy, confuse, mislead, or create a false equivalency between the Microsoft and Apple brands. Now that Microsoft looks like its going to start manufacturing it's own hardware like with the new Surface it would make sense but until they can fill a store with Microsoft manufactured products first and foremost with a few sections for third party accessories then it looks more like a cheap way to ride someone else's coat tails.